In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in the use of multimedia applications on the World Wide Web (“Web”). New developments in multimedia applications have greatly enhanced the quality of viewing experiences for users of the Web, as many now have access to multimedia applications that provide real-time video streams, audio streams, video-on-demand, video and audio downloads, and many other functions. To meet the demand for new multimedia applications, many Web-based multimedia services have been developed. Examples of some existing multimedia services include media storage, streaming, syndication, delivery, transcoding, tracking, and billing services. These multimedia services allow many publishers, content owners, and other content providers to store large banks of digital media, provide real-time video and audio streams to client computers, and carry out many functions to serve and manage multimedia systems.
There are many known service providers that offer the above-described multimedia services. As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, it is common for each service provider to specialize in a specific group of services. In certain instances, a service provider may be equipped to only provide one type of service because the various multimedia services require particular computing equipment to facilitate each service. For example, a first service provider may be limited to providing storage and video streaming services, while a second service provider may be limited to providing transcoding services.
While existing systems are effective for providing their respective multimedia service, there are several disadvantages. In particular, it is difficult for content owners and multimedia publishers to readily combine and integrate the multimedia services provided by each service provider. In one illustrative example, if a multimedia publisher such as CNN Interactive desires to publish a video file on a Web site, several service providers must be utilized to implement all of the desired multimedia services that may be needed to publish the video file. For instance, in enabling a Web server to offer a streaming video feed to the public, the publisher may first need to select Anystream® to encode video content into digital media formats commonly used on the Internet such as RealMedia® and Windows Media Technologies®. CNN Interactive would then need to select StorageNetworks™ to provide offsite storage for its digital media files, Akamai™ for the streaming and download services, Zebus Group, Inc. for digital video advertising services and Generic Media® for transcoding services. This coordination between the plurality of service providers creates difficulty and expense, as multimedia publishers are required to select and coordinate compatible services. To date, no automated system exists for multimedia publishers to create, manage and distribute digital media files. In addition, since multimedia files are sizable, sometimes ranging up to 50 to 100 MB, the management of the files between the computing systems associated with each service provider presents many logistical complications.
In existing systems, the difficulty in coordinating and transferring multimedia files between each service provider is exacerbated by the fact that multimedia publishers are generally required to generate and transfer several media files for each publication. As can be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, most existing multimedia Web servers provide users with an option to view streaming video by the use of different media players, such as Real Player® and Windows Media Player®, while allowing the user to choose between a video stream at 300, 150, or 75 kilobits a second (also known as the bit-rate). The files to accommodate these options are produced through a process known as encoding, in which a video signal is captured and converted to an uncompressed digital format and becomes the master media file. The master media file is then encoded to a compressed format such as RealMedia® or Windows Media®. Thus, to offer a single master media file in two formats and three bit-rates requires the encoding process to generate six individual digital media file. As between the multimedia publisher and the encoding service provider, the encoding process is manual. The multimedia publisher must provide the source material (e.g. video tape) to the encoding service provider who then performs the encoding and returns the digital media files to the publisher. The management of all files related to one publication is a difficult task given that it is challenging to maintain the relationship between each derivative file and the corresponding master media file. This complex task creates an opportunity for inaccurate file management, thereby creating incorrect cross-references and lost files.
Even if a multimedia publisher successfully creates and manages all of the files that must be generated from a master media file, additional challenges arise when the encoding formats change or are upgraded. For example, the current versions of the most popular formats are RealMedia 8® and Windows Media 7®. These formats may be upgraded once or even twice a year, forcing a multimedia publisher to go through the process of manually encoding even more media files from the master media file. Encoding from an uncompressed master media file occurs in real-time and is therefore time consuming and expensive. Consequently, many multimedia publishers will generate digital media files in the latest formats through a process known as transcoding. Transcoding differs from first generation encoding in that the transcoder does not work from an uncompressed file, but instead generates the new digital media files from previously compressed files. Like encoding, transcoding is mainly a manual process.